Things have been too busy lately to do the vertical alignment procedure described by John Vreede, so I came up with a workaround.? It is useful because it can be used with short material without changing the thickness of the shim needed to correct the misalignment.? Here it is in use (sorry for the slight blur):
The work is dropped into the jaw and the aluminum piece is clamped in place with the C clamp, then the shim (in this case a US penny was perfect) is placed between the top of the jaw and aluminum piece, tilting the work up.? Then the jaw is tightened down.? The horizontal aluminum piece allows me to place the penny in the same location regardless of the length of the piece I'm cutting -- assuming that the aluminum alignment arm is installed so it is parallel to the jaw.
To be absolutely correct, it would be best to reverse things so the fixed jaw forms the reference plane.? The moveable jaw could wobble, affecting the alignment -- but if you look closely you will see a couple of brass screws attached to the fixed jaw.? They were initially added to help prevent the moveable jaw from tilting back when it's tightened down:? but they also keep the jaw from wobbling.? Folks who haven't done this mod probably want to use the fixed jaw to do the alignment correctoin.
The observant will also notice that the jaws have been extended, and a "jack screw" setup is on the left side to keep the moveable jaw from rotating if I'm clamping short pieces to cut.? In reality it's not a screw but a clamp arrangement for a .5" diameter rod.? It is quick and easy to set up.? I drilled a .5" diameter hole for the rod, then cut a slot up to it.? There are two blocks, one on each side of the slot; the left one is drilled for clearance and the right one was tapped for a 10-34 screw.? Tightening the screw down clamps the rod securely in place.
Mark
